Friday, June 03, 2011

What "Tan Kin Lian For President" means

At the outset, I should disclose that I have a personal nexus to this subject and it is something I feel very strongly about. You should read what follows below taking this fact into account. I am going to be unusually subjective.

Some present and former employees of NTUC Income will probably have shivers down their spine if they hear their former boss wants to be the next President of Singapore.

There are as many others, who will firmly stand by him, help his campaign and ensure he gets a good chance at being elected.

That is the kind of loyalty and reaction Tan Kin Lian attracts as a leader.

The first time I heard from Tan Kin Lian was in early 2003. I was about to take my final exams in law school in England. He asked, “Would you like to come back and work for me?”

I got the job without attending a single face-to-face interview. That too during a financial crisis when an employer would be spoilt for choice in recruiting others.

I asked Tan Kin Lian about this many years later. He said he had read my published materials and thought that I could make a constructive contribution. If I hadn’t, he said, his general counsel would have fired me.

This is not the first time I am writing about Tan Kin Lian. See here and here.

Tan Kin Lian is no politician. He is a simple man, with a fiercely independent streak. He says it like it is. He has an acute sense of what is right or wrong, and often does what he feels is right. He is decisive, prepared to take chances and ever ready to learn from the mistakes he makes. He is candid about his strengths because of his conscious preference to focus on what is positive.

When he wanted to reduce the cost of motor insurance, he stood up against the motor workshops. At industry meetings, he rattled other insurers with his unbendable resolve. Some motor workshop operators ended up in jail. Cases also went all the way up to the Court of Appeal to secure precedents that would bind judges in the lower courts.

As former corporate counsel of NTUC Income, I know Tan Kin Lian is a passionate advocate of the rule of law.

I once met a District Judge at an event for the legal fraternity. She asked most accusingly, “Why does NTUC Income send so many cases to court? Why can’t you all just settle the matters? Why are you always appealing decisions?”

I replied, “Firstly, we want a fair outcome for all parties involved in the matter. Secondly, ma’am, you should be grateful we send so many cases. It means the courts are kept busy and we create jobs for people like you.”

Not surprisingly, she found my answer unimpressive. She is still actively hearing motor insurance cases in the Subordinate Courts. When I became a trial lawyer some years later, I had the good fortune to appear before her weekly. I am not sure if she felt likewise.

In the meantime, Tan Kin Lian moved on to other causes. He single-handedly took on financial institutions in Singapore, when many lawyers were reluctant to take on these companies for fear of never being instructed in cases from such organisations. He gave relevance to the Speakers’ Corner by organising the largest gathering of protestors in the history of that public space. He pressured our financial regulators to remarkably change the retail space for investment products in a manner that protected consumers.

These are the stories that people know of Tan Kin Lian. There are many other untold stories of him.

Tan Kin Lian stood behind Ong Teng Cheong when the hegemonic force of the ruling party took on the former President. He led various charitable initiatives of the late President. After Ong’s death, he was among those determined to preserve Ong’s legacy.

He supported competition among the English mainstream media in Singapore, and I learnt that he provided critical advertising revenue to sustain Today in its early days.

He made a former lawyer at Tang Liang Hong’s firm his general counsel. That lawyer still remains general counsel of the NTUC cooperative and has given over a decade of dedicated, commendable public service to the labour movement – notwithstanding his past association, and that his valuable experience would have made got him a lot more wealth in another financial institution.

There was once Tan Kin Lian came under severe pressure from his bosses to fire me. He was told that I was funding opposition parties and supporting their causes, while being an employee of the NTUC cooperative. He did not believe these allegations, and carried out his own inquiry. It turned out I was helping my constituency's Member of Parliament from the ruling party!

His critics also have their untold stories.

Two very good friends, who are journalists, rather adorably call him a "megalomaniac" because of the shameless way he made himself the face of his organisation. For a similar reason, another friend does an awesome mimic of Tan Kin Lian.

I never liked they way Tan Kin Lian used to surround himself with his “yes” comrades. There were times I disagreed with his views. He once told an office gathering that his legal counsel could be relied on to disagree with him!

Many years ago, I was told someone created numerous copies of a fake obituary of him and flung them from a building roof-top. At one point, some of his colleagues were so unhappy with his leadership that they wrote letters of complaint to parliamentary representatives voicing their lack of confidence in him.

I know, however, he will make a difference to the office of President, if eventually selected and elected. In a Parliament dominated by one party, Tan Kin Lian can be depended upon to leave his unique imprint on our constitutional system.

"Tan Kin Lian for President” represents the cry of numerous Singaporeans wanting to exercise their power to vote for their next President. “Tan Kin Lian for President” is also a prayer for a President perceived as independent.

I hope, in the inimitable manner that has become the hallmark of Tan Kin Lian, he will take a chance, put the selection process of the presidency to the test and give others the choice to consider electing him as a future President.

Whether or not he is elected, at the very least, he owes this to the many supporters calling for him to stand up and be counted.

HappinessDharmendra Yadav

Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this?Do leave a comment as it will make a difference.

There are questions left unanswered by TKL. The most serious one is the actions he had taken while he was the boss of NTUC. Has it got to do with cronyism? If he accepts the EP nomination, we will flame him and bring out the truth.Thanks.

Your quote does not quite clarify the facts. Have you ever, at any time, funded an opposition party (or parties)? Have you ever supported their causes? And did you ever do so while being employed by NTUC?

You wrote:"There was once Tan Kin Lian came under severe pressure from his bosses to fire me. He was told that I was funding opposition parties and supporting their causes, while being an employee of the NTUC cooperative. He did not believe these allegations, and carried out his own inquiry. It turned out I was helping my constituency's Member of Parliament from the ruling party!"

I do not think TKL should stand for President. Very few CEOs feature in their own TV commercials, and many times at that. That made him either narcissistic or trying to sell himself. And he does not speak well. His habitual squinting of his eyes is very disconcerting. And he may not have the gravitas or bearing to be a president of stature. But most importantly, if he stands, some dirt and smear on him may appear.

When I was employed by the NTUC cooperative, I neither funded any opposition party nor volunteered with any opposition party in any other way.

Of course, since I left the NTUC's service in 2007, I am no longer duty-bound to just support one political party.

I have offered to volunteer my services at both meet-the-people sessions of my own PAP MP, and that of the Workers' Party.

I also donated part of the Grow and Share package I received to the Singapore Democratic Party. The circumstances leading to that donation are disclosed in my blog post of 27 April 2011, "PAP provokes $179 grow and share package for SDP".

I made a separate donation to the campaign of "Jeannette for Mountbatten" (see blog post of 30 April 2011).

If you want to help me in my support of the PAP and opposition parties, drop me an e-mail.

"I got the job without attending a single face-to-face interview""If you want to help me in my support of the PAP and opposition parties, drop me an e-mail."

Dear Yadav,

Your reasoning in the above quotes are not comprehensive and certainly you tried to be as neutral as possible.You went through the back door to NTUC with TKL's cronyism.Either you support PAP or Opposition or none of these. PAP does not need your money. They are controlling and using state money (taxpayers' money)to fund all their party operations for decades. TKL has something to hide. His wife has reservations. Go ask TKL why is he taking long time to decide if you may. Do you know the reason(s) why he have to step down?Your creditability is already at stake in your writing on the walls.

I claim neither to be comprehensive nor neutral. I stated at the outset this is a subjective position.

I agree with you that the PAP does not need one's money. It needs volunteers to contribute time, at least in my neighbourhood. Drop me an e-mail if you want to visit. I will be happy to host you.

I think it is possible to contribute to more than one party at one time, perhaps not as an MP, but certainly as an ordinary citizen. This my just my view only.

As for my employment, while there were no face-to-face interviews, there were other forms of assessment, which are documented. If you would like to view these documentation, I can make these available to you.

Dear DharmendraI have read this article and also two earlier articles giving your views about me. I find your views to be fair, and somewhat more generous to me that I deserve.

You have mentioned my shortcomings, and I accept them as reflecting your views. I have no issue with them.

I need to give my views on your statement that I am surrounded by "yes" comrades. This is unfair to many of the 50 managers who worked with me.

I run NTUC Income based on certain values and principles - the values of honesty, fairness, to be thrifty and keep cost low for policyholders, to make a reasonable (and not excessive profit), to focus on what is good for customers, rather than to increase sales for its own sake.

I make my views clear, and am happy to have most managers share these values. You should not consider them as being "yes" men.

Some managers joined me with experience from other companies (where there is a stronger commercial focus). After a while, they accept the values. Most of them tell me that these values are more meaningful, than the profit motive.

There may be some managers who are really "yes" men or ladies, and are willing to change the values depending on the person in charge. But, this statement should not refer to the others, who are people with their own character and values.

I hope that you will bear this point in mind, when you make similar statements in the future - to be fair to people who are unfairly tainted by the statement.

Generally, I am happy with your observations, which I consider to be quite generous to me. Best regards.

I agree there were several employees, not just managers, under his watch who were supportive of his policies because they believed wholeheartedly in them. It was never my intention to cast doubts on their valuable contributions that made a difference.

I was referring to those unthinking employees who were pliant for the sake of being so, and who swung wherever the winds of management blew. I accept that such employees exist in any organisation, with some entities having a greater incidence of them than others.

The use of the word "several" here "several employees, not just managers, under his watch who were supportive of his policies because they believed wholeheartedly in them", implies that there were many relativeto the staff strength of Income.

I am scratching my head, wondering what is the purpose of your post. Someone as good with words as you are, surely is capable of communicating to the lay person more effectively? You praise him sky high, but you also criticise him. And then you conclude that you hope he will "take a chance, put the selection process of the presidency to the test and give others the choice to consider electing him as a future President. Whether or not he is elected, at the very least, he owes this to the many supporters calling for him to stand up and be counted."

So its not a "yes" I support him for president, or "no" I don't because.... After the lengthy essay, so you only want him to stand so that people are given a "choice"? Any eligible candidate will give the people a "choice". That is quite obvious to me. We also don't need TKL just to do that.

Shaun - The purpose is to share some thoughts on the man and what this man could mean for the presidency. It is not to lobby for others to support or oppose him. I don't have the necessary clout to do so in any case.

Ryan - Tan Kin Lian's contributions are documented in the biography of Ong Teng Cheong by Tisa Ng. He chaired the President's Charity Ball for 2 years.

Cynical Investor - Post a poll on your blog on the issue you raise and I will participate! You may get a better indication of the numbers that way. :)

It's just like the "old" days when we had that NTUC Income intranet forum where Kin Lian used to post stuff and ask for views. When staff supported his point of view, he was pleased as peach.

When anyone suggested a contrary view, he would send "not too nice" personal warning email to that staff to either delete his/her post and/or kena face-face or online "whacking" by him.

Staff will then apologise etc publically in the forum, revise posting and will be "marked" from that point onwards.

I got to say he has the knack for this sort of thing - to get "small people" like us to say sorry to him - directly or otherwise. Saw a good number of our ex-colleagues who had to do that one time too often for just stating their views which did not align with his. It was a sickening thing man.

"As for my employment, while there were no face-to-face interviews, there were other forms of assessment, which are documented. If you would like to view these documentation, I can make these available to you."

Dear Yadav,

I have said that 'You went through the back door to NTUC with TKL's cronyism.' You do not have to defend it with your documented assessments. You have already made a mark on TKL in your letter and that is cronyism!

Your letter is unusually subjective as stated by your good self. As far as I have read, there is only one subjective: "If Tan Kin Lian runs without the support of his former employer, these employees will in all likelihood volunteer to help the candidates opposing him." That is real logical fact! The rest of your write up is talking about the good side of TKL. So what is so unusually subjective about this write up?

That was why the NTUC Income intranet forum as stated by the earlier poster had mainly postings that read like "Yes, what a wonderfil idea Mr Tan!" and "Yes, brilliant Mr Tan!" - all in blind agreement with TKL's ideas whether they were sound or not.

For those who did not have the chance to work with TKL at NTUC Income may like to know that one of the Key performance indicators for staff was the degree of participation in NTUC Income's intranet Forum. On the surface it sounds good. However, it was actually a platform for him to judge the degree of "love" which the staff had of him and his ideas.

Alternative ideas that were not in line with his never got to see the light of day and so the forum was filled with statements of praise and adoration for him and his ideas. Yes there was some extended discourse but only if it was in agreement with him.

The situation is very similar to his blog right now. There is no active discussion in his blog. He does not allow for active discussion of his views that do not agree with him. I would say that practically all of the comments that he allows posted ( and there are very few to begin with and we wonder why) are all things that praise him and say good things about him and which support his views. There is no free debate on any platform he offers. This is a typical trademark of his to surround himself with only positive things about his viewpoint.

One thing you need to note is that he will squash you if you disgree with him and you are not a powerful or influential person. I saw first-hand how he "bullied" some of the staff. One of my colleagues summed up her assessment of him as nothing more than "a big bully" who picked on people who had no choice but to tolerate his bullying because they had to keep their jobs.

On the other hand, if you are a powerful and influential person and you disagree with him and his ideas, he may tolerate you.

To end of, I agree with Dharmendra's original assessment that TKL likes to surround himself with "Yes" men.

Yadav,This is bull-shit...How can you even think of TKL's coming near to standing for President. It actually belittles your own status. Yes you may be beholden due to your possible backdoor entry to NTUC Income. TKL's claims of fairness -- what a laugh. A female employee complains of Management harssment... she gets terminated for poor performsnce. You were witness to this. Someone with almost 30 years of service and excellent performance record. Its a shame... if someone like this can even come near the race for Presidency. Do wake up.

Listening to the speakers tonight on TV about the powers of the elected president leads me to the conclusion that he has no powers at all but is a true extension of the will of the Cabinet. He the President is a lame duck and lacks the freewill and free speach of even the ordinary citizenry. The PAP is about to foist an expensive puppet on us ironically to maintain the prevalent state institutions supporting the culture of fear. Let's save our money.

The way I see it: TT did not want the job in the first place. He took it up out of obligation to PAP. TCB is a result of a split in PAP. TJS is clearly in to drive his GE agenda. TKL is the only one truely motivated by the spirit to serve the country and took the courage to step forward in the Presidential Election.

Follow Happy

Always Happy

I Am

This blog is personal.
Nothing in this blog is meant to substitute professional legal, financial or other advice. Please seek such advice independently! Dharmendra Yadav is presently a corporate counsel in a financial institution. Contact him by e-mail dpyadav {[at]} yahoo.com